For stroke patients, every minute counts

A study recently showed the power of time - in 15 minute increments. For clot-type strokes, every quarter-hour delay getting to help can mean more likelihood of a poorer outcome.

While the clot-busting drug tissue plasminogen (tPA) has its limitations, getting to a hospital too late has its own ramifications.

Click on the link to read how every minute counts for stroke victims, study confirms:

Rapid treatment with a clot-dissolving drug reduces stroke patients' risk of in-hospital death and increases their chances of being able to walk and return home when they leave the hospital, according to the study, published in the June 19 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. ...

For every 15-minute faster start of tPA therapy, patients were less likely to die or have an intracranial hemorrhage, and were more likely to walk and be sent home when discharged from the hospital, according to the study.